Page 98 of If You Give a Grump a Christmas Tree Farm
Little mewling cries come from the living room, and Buddy barks from where he’s still standing by the bed staring at us.
We both look toward the open bedroom door.
“What was that sound?” I ask.
“Don’t know,” JJ says, lifting off me to slip into his jeans, leaving the zipper and button undone.
I scramble into his discarded denim shirt and follow him out into the living room. The sound leads us to the blankets where Buddy’s new girlfriend, the golden lab lies.
“Did she catch a mouse?” I ask, trying to focus my sleepy eyes. “What is that?”
JJ squats and pushes her front paw out of the way to look.
There are a bunch of squirming fur balls at her belly.
“Good God, she’s had puppies,” he says.
“Oh, my gosh. She wasn’t fat; she was pregnant! How many are there?”
JJ does a quick count. “Holy crap, there areeightof them. And check out this one.” He scoops one up and holds it for me to see.
It’s black like Buddy. The rest are all golden, like their mother.
“Guess there’s no doubt who the daddy is,” I say.
“You been busy, huh, Buddy,” JJ says, staring at him as he sits four feet away, his tail wagging proudly.
“This is why he woke me up. He wanted us to see the puppies.” I bend and scratch his ears. “Are they healthy? Do they all look okay?”
“They seem fine. They’re all content, just eating like little piggies.”
I walk over and pet the mama. “You did good, pretty girl. Look at all your beautiful babies.”
Her tail wags slowly, and I straighten. “She must be tired.”
“You would be too. She’s been busy all night.”
“We never heard a sound.”
“I think I had you good and distracted,” JJ says, rising and throwing an arm around me.
I grin. “True.”
He kisses me, then dips his head to peer out the window. The sun is shining.
“Looks like the snow has stopped, but not before it dumped a shitload of it on us.”
I push the curtain aside. Everything is blinding white, the snow sparkling in the brilliant sunshine and the sky is a perfect shade of blue. “What a gorgeous Christmas morning.”
“It is since we don’t have to go anywhere.”
I wander to the tree and frown, finding an ornament I don’t remember buying. It’s a silver box with a ribbon. “What’s this?”
JJ has a smile on his face. “Open it and find out.”
I take it from where it’s nestled in the branches and pull the bow, then lift the lid. Inside is a diamond ring lying on blue velvet.
My eyes widen and lift to JJ’s.
